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Baer dropped into the empty lawn chair beside him and the chair creaked ominously under his weight. The Animal Weaver stretched his legs out in front of him and sighed heavily.
“Still recovering from dinner?” Calder teased.
“I’m not sure I will ever recover. Did you hear that Gio’s mom and aunts want to send food with us to Savannah? God, I think I love those women.”
Calder chuckled and shook his head. He glanced back up at the bonfire, and his eyes immediately locked on where Gio was standing with Lucien behind him. The taller man had his arms wrapped around Gio, while his face was lowered down and buried in Gio’s neck. The look of pure joy on Gio’s face sent an answering flutter of happiness through his chest. Part of him wanted to cross the yard and join them, but he remained where he was. Lucien and Gio needed some time just to themselves. Calder had been blessed with some Gio snuggles already.
Baer leaned on the arm closest to Calder and lowered his voice. “Can I ask you a totally inappropriate question that will probably get my ass kicked if Wiley finds out?”
Calder rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure it was a rule that most things out of Baer’s mouth were inappropriate. “Sure.”
“What do you feel when you see that?” He nodded his head toward Gio and Lucien.
Calder looked at his mates again, and a smile spread across his lips. “Joy. Lust and longing, of course. But mostly joy.”
“Really?” Calder turned his attention over to Baer, who had his head cocked to the side as he watched them. The flickering firelight revealed his face scrunched up in confusion. “I mean, if I saw some guy holding Wiley, my first thought would be to break him in half.”
A startled bark of laughter jumped from Calder’s throat. “I get that. And if it was anyone besides Lucien and Gio, maybe I’d feel that too. But with them,” Calder paused and then shrugged. “I can see their obvious joy. I feel this swelling of happiness inside my chest, wrapping my heart. It’s like pure contentment is hugging my soul. I don’t know if it’s their happiness or only mine in reaction to their happiness. And I know they don’t care for me less because I’m not right there with them. I’ve felt their pleasure and need for me when we’re together.”
“Wow. That’s pretty amazing, but it also sounds like what I feel when I’m around Wiley, or even if I’m merely thinking about him. Have you done the polyamory thing before?”
Calder shook his head. “Never. I haven’t done a ton of dating. Was never all that great at it. I’ve been accused of being too quiet.”
“You? I don’t believe it,” Baer teased.
“Funny. But with Gio and Lucien, I don’t ever worry about being quiet. I just feel…like me. I’m free to be me.”
“What about you and Lucien?”
“We’re good. Better. I think we were fighting with each other because we were struggling with this attraction that we’d told ourselves was wrong. With Gio, it feels like everything has snapped into place at last.”
“That’s so awesome. Then Gio is going to bond with you both and—”
Calder laughed, breaking off Baer’s happy plans. “Eventually, I think. He’s still hesitant. Figuring things out. He was hurt by those assholes badly and still has some healing to do, I’m sure. We want to give him as much time as we can.”
Baer relaxed in his squeaky chair again and rubbed his bearded jaw. “Yeah, I get that. I—” Whatever Baer was about to say was snapped off sharply as he lurched to his feet. He took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring as he looked across the yard.
“What’s wrong?”
“Pestilents,” he snarled.
Calder was on his feet in a heartbeat. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask Baer if he was sure, but then he caught the first whiff of the stench. It was almost as if the slight breeze had crossed over a landfill of rotting corpses. The smell was putrid, causing his stomach to lurch and threaten to empty.
“How many?” Calder whispered as he squinted against the darkness. There were too few houses on the block, and his night vision had already been ruined by staring into the dancing flames. There was movement in the shadows, but he couldn’t see how many might be circling them as they spoke.
“I don’t know. We need to get all of Gio’s family safely inside and pray that John isn’t among the attackers. We have no way of taking the spell away until Grey gets here.”
The thunder of footsteps rushing toward him had Calder jerking around, his heart leaping into his throat at the thought of the pestilents racing up behind him. But it was only Lucien and Gio, matching expressions of worry on their faces.
